Analyst says 'lock of the offseason' is Kirk Cousins returning to Vikings

Yahoo Sports fantasy writer Dalton Del Don says he would be "shocked" if Kirk Cousins doesn't re-sign with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason.

For the last six seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have entered Week 1 with Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback. With Cousins currently scheduled to become a free agent in March, his time as the Vikings' starting signal-caller might have already come to an end.

The veteran quarterback is coming off of a torn Achilles, and he will be 36 in August. It's also not going to be cheap for Minnesota to bring Cousins back this offseason, as Spotrac currently projects his market value to land him a contract worth $39.3 million per year.

Despite all of this, there are still some who believe the Vikings are just going to re-sign the Pro Bowl passer within the next few weeks and begin the 2024 season with him as their starter once again.

Analyst believes Kirk Cousins re-signing with the Minnesota Vikings is "a lock"

During a recent episode of the "Yahoo Fantasy Football Show" podcast, Yahoo Sports' fantasy writer Dalton Del Don had the following to say when asked if Minnesota will be able to bring Cousins back this year.

"This, to me, is the lock of the offseason, [Kirk] Cousins returning to Minnesota.

He says he’s been blessed with the amount of money his family could ever use. He wants to finish the job there.

I believe the coaching staff loves him. They were great with him. They beat the Niners when Cousins was healthy last year.

I think it’s a lock, Cousins returns to Minnesota. I would be shocked if this doesn’t happen.”

The lock of the offseason?

That seems like a very strong statement, considering the Vikings only gave Cousins a one-year extension in 2022 and then didn't even extend his contract before the start of the 2023 season, despite it only having one year left on it.

Now, to be fair, this sounds like it is completely just an opinion of Del Don and not based on any league or team sources that he might have. At least he didn't mention that his comments were based on any sort of info that might have been shared with him.

That being said, he might want to take a closer look at Minnesota's current situation and then ask himself if investing almost $40 million per season into a 35-year-old quarterback coming off an Achilles injury is really the best decision for the franchise to make.

Many would say it would not be a smart decision for the Vikings to make, but obviously, some still believe Cousins is just going to stay put and potentially finish out his NFL career in the Twin Cities.

For Del Don and for others who might share a similar opinion about the veteran quarterback, it might be time to start preparing themselves for the shock they will apparently experience if Cousins signs elsewhere this offseason, as there is a very realistic chance that he's already played his final snap in Minnesota.